Nov 8, 2018 | House Race Analyses, Straight-ticket Voting
Dallas was a cradle for the modern Republican Party. Captain J.F. Lucey, a Dallas oilman and nationally prominent Republican, founded the Republican Club of Texas in 1947, which was the forerunner of the current Republican Party of Texas. Republican gubernatorial...
Nov 4, 2018 | Political Climate, Statewide Race Analyses, Straight-ticket Voting
This is the first of two analyses that will attempt to prognosticate Tuesday’s general election. Here we focus on the overall political climate. Our next, shorter, analysis will look at individual races. 2018’s Place in History It would be easy to say that we are...
Oct 19, 2018 | Political Climate
We have been exploring seats potentially in play by looking at specific metrics defining not only how a district voted in the most recent election but also how those voting patterns have changed over time. We also looked at fundraising totals and their historic impact...
Oct 16, 2018 | Political Climate
Most of the national attention, when it has turned to Texas this year, has been focused on U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) and his challenge of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R). Polls have consistently shown him trailing by just single-digits in a state that hasn’t sent a...
Oct 3, 2018 | Political Climate
Last week we explored the shift in straight-party voting advantage in Republican-held districts toward the Democrats. Today we explore each party’s roles in those shifts. Between 2012 and 2016, Democrats either cut into the Republican straight-party advantage or...
Sep 11, 2018 | Federal Race Analyses, Political Climate
Traditionally, we have rated contested elections on a 5-star scale, which one star indicating a very low-interest race with no chance of flipping and five stars indicating a high-interest race with a relatively high likelihood of flipping. Our Crib Sheets still...
Sep 10, 2018 | House Race Analyses, Political Climate, Senate Race Analyses
The general election is eight weeks away, and early voting begins six weeks from today. Traditionally, we have rated contested elections on a 5-star scale, which one star indicating a very low-interest race with no chance of flipping and five stars indicating a...
Sep 9, 2018 | Campaign News
SD19: Early voting begins tomorrow (Monday) for the special runoff election between Pleasanton retired game warden Pete Flores (R) and former Rep. and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine). Early voting continues through Friday. Election Day is September 18. Flores...
Aug 30, 2018 | Straight-ticket Voting
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) has reinstated the single-punch, straight-party voting option for the general election. The state stopped using the single-punch option after the 2012 general election, during which 41% of all votes cast were...
Aug 1, 2018 | Campaign News
The state of Michigan cannot eliminate single-punch, straight-party voting because it would result in long lines at polling stations that “intentionally discriminated against African-Americans,” ruled U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain. The Michigan legislature passed...
Jan 11, 2018 | By the Numbers
131 Number of counties, out of 254, in which only one party fielded candidates for every county-level office up for election in 2018 While droves of candidates running for state and federal office has led to the highest percentage of contested seats in decades, the...
Nov 19, 2017 | Federal Race Analyses
National pundit Charlie Cook has moved the seat held by U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston) to toss-up from leans Republican, citing his relatively weaker financial condition and the swing from Romney +21 to Clinton +1 in four years. CD7 was one of seven districts...
